PARIS/LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on Thursday a probe was under way into a suspected multi-million euros value-added tax (VAT) fraud in the French carbon emissions market.

“An inquiry is under way but we are not yet about to place people under official investigation,” a source at the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The French Budget Ministry has made carbon permits exempt from VAT in order to prevent a potential scam linked to a French emissions exchange, a government source said on Monday.

A ministry source said there had been no evidence of a VAT fraud despite rumours circulating that a recent surge in volumes in the European Union emissions permits traded over BlueNext, Europe’s main exchange for spot permit trading, was suspicious.

Through carousel fraud, also called missing trader fraud, fraudsters import goods VAT-free from other countries, and then sell the goods to domestic buyers, charging them VAT. The sellers then disappear without paying the collected tax to the government collection authorities.

A BlueNext spokesman told Reuters on Thursday there was no evidence VAT fraud was occurring over its exchange and that the rumours were “unsubstantiated”, adding he was unaware of any investigation relating specifically to the exchange.

He said he had not been contacted by any authorities, including the Paris prosecutor’s office, about the matter.